SHHY Beauty founder Shylynn Oubre wears many hats. She is a mom, NBA wife, and entrepreneur bringing change and innovation to the beauty industry. Born in the Midwest, Shylynn has lived on both the West and East Coasts and has traveled throughout the country. Today, however, she calls Charlotte home.
Though she just launches her company in June 2022, the idea to create a beauty brand has always been in the back of Shylynn’s mind. As a child, her family moved a lot. At one point, she was even a foster child. Being an Afro-Latina growing up with people who didn’t look like her made it difficult for Shylynn to embrace the beauty of her natural textured hair and colored skin.
“I didn’t have access to products other women of color had. I was trying to find an easy and simple way to bring out my inner beauty and, after a while, pink lotion and cocoa butter alone weren’t cutting it. SHHY Beauty is a brand I initially created to open the door for a community of people to be uniquely themselves and embrace what makes them feel beautiful.”
In a society where superficiality has become the norm and has created the baseline of what ‘beauty’ looks like, Shylynn thought it was important to create a brand of high-quality natural products without setting a standard or expectation of what beauty should be.
“SHHY Beauty is for people like myself who have had to figure it out on their own. On social media, I saw so many images of ‘flawless’ women with amazing skin and hair. I wanted to figure out how to recreate these amazing looks and create a space where beauty has no definition other than what YOU make it. I fully believe in embracing what makes YOU feel beautiful.”
“My formulas are the essentials you need while on the go without a full ten-step routine, or if you need simplicity to develop your skincare routine. I especially formulated SHHY Beauty for people who travel a lot like me, and have a limited amount of time for their hair and skin routine.”
When traveling in the summer or in hot climates, Shylynn says it is important to keep our hair hydrated and protected with alcohol-free products that have natural ingredients to promote healthy hair. Ingredients like banana extract, sea buckthorn, rice amino acids, and flaxseed are underrated ingredients that have a huge impact.
“Protective styles that prevent heat damage are always amazing; just make sure to use our FLEX styling gel to maintain those styles against frizz that causes breakage from the sun and can damage your hair follicles. And if you like to keep your curls free, that works, too! You can use our BOUNCE curl-defining cream to define and give your curls a pillow-soft body and hydration that lasts all day. As a Shy tip, I love FLEX for tight, coily textures and BOUNCE for looser curls.”
Shylynn points out that though braids are great for their convenience and hold up well during travel, you should always make sure they aren’t too tight. Other warm-weather and travel-friendly styles that are easy to maintain include buns, curly extensions (with minimal leave-out), or a simple wash-and-go, which is ideal for both women and men.
When it comes to warm-weather skincare, Shylynn says that although we all have different needs, there are universal routines that benefit all of our skin. When selecting products to use on our bodies, it is important to choose those with beneficial, natural ingredients.
“When I think about skin and hair care products for the summer or for warm-weather travel, my thoughts immediately go to, what do I look for in the foods that I eat to keep me healthy, hydrated, and glowing from the inside out? For facial care, one word: antioxidants. Start with a fresh clean face using our SUDDS Jelly Cleanser. It’s heavy in antioxidants such as green tea, spirulina, and sunflower oil. This is a mild cleanser that is created to treat blemishes, reduce inflammation and irritation, and help balance your skin. Next, let’s talk about Vitamin C and fruit enzymes in our THIRST Brightening Serum. Both ingredients help to reduce hyperpigmentation and acne scarring to brighten up your skin the natural way.”
For body hydration, butters, such as cupuacu and mango butters, deeply moisturize skin and help maintain its elasticity while revealing its natural radiance, reducing the appearance of dark spots, and cleansing the skin’s surface of impurities that block pores.
“As a woman of color, my skin tends to scar easily, leaving dark spots. These butters help reduce the appearance of blemishes, lock in moisture, and exfoliate the skin naturally. Our moisturizing body BUTTA is your BFF! Our holy grail product that’s going to give you that ultimate SHHINE is our shimmering body oil, GLOW. From the sparkles to the moringa and jojoba oil, the combination is unparalleled and perfect for sunny weather. But Shhh, don’t take our word, let us show you.”
During air travel, when skin dehydration and dryness is inevitable due to low humidity in the cabin, it’s a must to keep your skin properly moisturized and protected with a serum on travel day. This is something Shylynn finds useful for her frequent jet-setting with her husband, who spends eight months out of the year traveling two to three times a week by air.
“Our SUDDS Jelly Cleanser and THIRST Brightening Serum together do just that. Top it off with our SHH lip oil and you’re good to go. Remember that it’s always deeper than what’s on the surface. To guarantee proper hydration means to also make sure your water intake is up to par for your body type.”
Having just launched this summer, Shylynn is enjoying getting her feet wet in the beauty industry and says that so far, her company has had an incredible launch on its e-commerce site.
“We’re looking to expand to larger e-commerce platforms and retail locations sometime next year. In addition, we just launched an ambassador program and are looking to partner with influencers throughout the country to help spread the SHHY Beauty love, too. Our ingredients and message are simple: Own that Shhh!”
You can connect with SHHY Beauty on Instagram at @shhybeauty.co and shop their natural beauty products at www.shhybeauty.co.
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